Monthly Budget Worksheets | Pay Stub, Budget + Log | Life Skills

Monthly Budget: Income, Rent + Bills: a functional reading and math set for high school life skills, special education, and transition programs. Start with take-home pay, plan every dollar, then check what really got spent.

Why I made this: Most of my students can tell me what they want to buy with their first paycheck. Far fewer can tell me what is left after rent. A budget is just a list and some subtraction, but it only works if you start from take-home pay and then check it against what you really spent. This set walks through one young adult's month from pay stub to spending log.

How it is different from my Reading a Pay Stub resource: that set teaches gross pay, deductions, and net pay in depth. Here the pay stub is only the starting point. Most of this set is the monthly budget and comparing what was planned with what was really spent.

What's included:

• A teacher page: why I made it, how to use both levels, and the skills covered

• Words to know: 10 key words, each with a picture

• 3 pages of practice documents: a pay stub, a monthly budget with fixed and flexible expenses, and a spending log with a planned-vs-spent table. All businesses, names, and numbers are made up.

• 12 Level A questions, each with a picture and three answer choices

• The same 12 questions at Level B, with open answers and room to show the math

• A real-life task: pick a place to live and build a monthly budget that does not spend more than you earn

• An answer key that shows where to find each answer

How I use it: Read through the practice documents together, then give each student the level that fits. Both levels ask the same questions, so the whole class can check answers together. I use the real-life task as a wrap-up or right before a community outing.

Skills covered: reading hours, rate, gross pay, deductions, and net pay on a pay stub; finding monthly income from two paychecks; sorting fixed and flexible expenses; adding a budget and finding what is left over; adding up a spending log by category; comparing planned and actual spending; building a budget from take-home pay.

Part of the Functional Life Skills series: every set uses the same layout (words, real-looking documents, two levels of the same questions, and a real-life task), so students know the routine when you move to the next set.

Pairs well with:

• Reading a Pay Stub (a full set on gross pay, deductions, and net pay)

• Life Skills Money Math Task Cards (counting money and reading receipts)

Who it is for: high school life skills and special education classes, transition programs for ages 18 to 21, and adult education. Grades 9 to 12 and adult transition.

What you download: one printable PDF, 11 pages, US Letter. Answer key included.

From the author of The Transition Map (Jeremy D. Gooch), available in paperback and Kindle.

Written by Jeremy D. Gooch, a teacher with 20+ years in education. All businesses, names, and numbers are made up.